Recognizing the lifesaving benefits of smoke and other threat detectors, more and more consumers are installing these devices in their homes. Indeed, many municipalities have enacted building ordinances that require that smoke detectors be installed in new construction and in order to sell an existing home. Apartment buildings and other commercial structures typically also include such smoke detectors. While many commercial structures and many newly constructed single-family dwellings include centrally powered smoke detectors, i.e. powered from the main electrical system of the dwelling, almost all other smoke detectors installed by consumers are battery powered. Indeed, many centrally powered smoke detectors still include a backup battery so that the benefits of the detector are not lost during a power outage.
Unfortunately, while the life saving benefits of the smoke detectors cannot be discounted, such smoke detectors continue to be a source of annoyance at times for consumers. One source of annoyance results from the fact that most smoke detectors are installed on the ceiling or otherwise in a location that is not easily accessible by the average consumer without using a stepladder. Since many such smoke detectors are battery powered as discussed above, these batteries periodically need to be tested. While most manufacturers recommend that the consumer periodically test the smoke detector to make sure that the batteries and other circuits therein are still operational, many consumers do not follow these recommendations based primarily on the difficulty of reaching the smoke detector test button. Unfortunately, without periodic testing of the smoke detectors, the consumer has no assurance that they are still operational. Still further, undetected failure of the smoke detector may well leave the consumer with a false sense of security, when indeed the consumer should actually be concerned.
There exists a need, therefore, for a system that provides periodic, automatic remote testing of a smoke or other threat detector without requiring user intervention.